7 D-Day veterans still soldiering on 70 years later

Hundreds of World War II veterans and dignitaries will be marking the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, which began in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, as three divisions of U.S. and British paratroopers jumped into the night sky behind German lines. That morning, six more divisions, 100,000 Allied troops in all, stormed five beachheads along the Norman coast between Cherbourg and Le Havre, piercing Hitler’s Atlantic Wall and setting the stage for the liberation of Europe from Nazi oppression a little more than 11 months later. Now, 70 years later, the ranks of the men who survived Omaha and Utah Beach, Gold, Juno and Sword Beach, along with Point Du Hoc and St. Mere Eglise, are much thinner now. But there are some unique weapons and vehicles of the D-Day era that are still soldiering on today. (This slide show has been updated.)

The Douglas C-47 Skytrain dropped men of the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, as well as the British 6th Airborne Division into battle during the early morning hours of D-Day and then continued to serve the Allied war effort in Europe and the Pacific and post-war during the Berlin Airlift. The C-47 could carry 28 troops or 6,000 pounds of supplies and had a top speed of 225 mph. More than 10,000 were produced from 1943 until 1945 and served in the Vietnam War as well. Many are still flying today with several South American air forces and civilian users in Alaska.

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The DUKW or “Duck” was an amphibious truck built in 1942 just as the U.S. entered the Second World War. GI’s called it a duck because it waddled and paddled like a duck in the water. More than 20,000 DUKW’s were built in WWII and they carried more than 18 million tons of supplies to the D-Day beaches in the days and months after the June invasion while the more permanent Mulberry Harbors were built. Today the DUKWs have it a little easier, paddling around the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., and Boston Harbor with tourists aboard.

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The M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun, or the “Ma Duce” is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of the First World War but was best known for its role in WWII, giving B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberator bombers a fearsome defensive firepower, as well as arming the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolts who used the penetrating power of the 12.7 mm round to strafe Germany supply convoys in Normandy. The M2 was also used by ground forces in Normandy as an anti-aircraft and anti-sniper weapon. The M2 went on to serve in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq and is still in service today with all branches of the U.S. military including the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard.

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The M1919 Browning .30 caliber machine gun was the M2’s little brother, firing a 7.62mm round, half the size of the M2. Still, it played a key role in providing mobile firepower for infantry through the Normandy hedgerows. A modified version of the .30 round also helped arm the Royal Air Force’s Spitfire and Hurricane fighters. Though its rate of fire was half the German’s famous MG42 (still in use today as well), it was reliable and durable and went on to serve in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. The M1919 is still in use by some militaries today.

Getty Images

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The Colt .45 Pistol was on the beaches in Normandy, 70 years ago, as the sidearm for the U.S. Army and other branches of the U.S. military. More than 2 million were produced and today it still is in the hands of the United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command, which still uses the M1911A1 as well as dozens of militaries around the world.

Getty Images

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The Willys MB and Ford GPW U.S. Army Jeep became an iconic image in WWII and during the D-Day invasion when many were used as ambulances and scout cars amid fighting in the Normandy hedgerows. The “Jeep” name came from the military designation “GP” or “General Purpose” More than 600,000 were produced from 1941 to 1945.

German Federal Archive

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The MG-42 was probably the most feared German weapon on D-Day besides the famed 88mm flak and anti-tank gun. The MG-42 had an astounding rate of fire of 1200 to 1500 7.92mm rounds a minute, double Allied weapons, allowing a single machine gun nest to pin down hundreds of Allied troops on the landing beaches and later in the Normandy hedgerows. The only drawback to the weapon was its voracious consumption of ammunition. The only way to combat the weapon was to wait till the German gunners ran out of ammunition or forced to changed barrels. Today, the Austrian, Italian, German and Spanish armies still use a version of the WWII veteran today firing 7.62mm ammo.

German Federal Archive

Slide 9 of 9

The MG-42 was probably the most feared German weapon on D-Day besides the famed 88mm flak and anti-tank gun. The MG-42 had an astounding rate of fire of 1200 to 1500 7.92mm rounds a minute, double Allied weapons, allowing a single machine gun nest to pin down hundreds of Allied troops on the landing beaches and later in the Normandy hedgerows. The only drawback to the weapon was its voracious consumption of ammunition. The only way to combat the weapon was to wait till the German gunners ran out of ammunition or forced to changed barrels. Today, the Austrian, Italian, German and Spanish armies still use a version of the WWII veteran today firing 7.62mm ammo.

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